For the first time in 2014, the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will turn both left and right as the sixteenth stop on the tour takes to the Sonoma Raceway in California.

Over recent years, road course racing has changed drastically in the sport of NASCAR. No longer are the “road course ringer” the ones in the mix for wins, however it’s the guys that are turning left every week excelling at turning the other direction.

The road courses used to be “throwaway” races for drivers over the course of the season. That was when a driver could get away with having a few bad races, but those days are long gone. Now, teams and drivers put their best-effort forward at the two road courses.

NASCAR on road courses have typically meant long, strategy-filled events which weren’t always the most exciting events for fans to watch. Now, the two road courses have become some the most anticipated events on the calendar; Especially Sonoma, which has been dubbed as the Bristol of road courses.

*This roster is set based on the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing system*

“A” Drivers:

Kurt Busch: The 2011 winner at Sonoma, Busch has been strong at Sonoma over the past few seasons. After winning with Roger Penkse in 2011, Busch has put together strong runs with two lesser-funded teams (Phoenix Racing and Furniture Row Racing) in back-to-back seasons including a third place finish in 2012. The elder Busch brother comes into Sonoma with more confidence after the performance of his No.41 Stewart-Haas Racing team seems to have turned the corner.

Jeff Gordon: You can’t come to Sonoma and not have Jeff Gordon as a favorite. He’s the all-time wins leader at the track and has led more laps at Sonoma than any other driver. His last win may have been in 2006, but that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t have a knack for road course racing. Seeing how well his season has gone thus far, it’s almost a given that Gordon will be in the mix Sunday afternoon.

“B” Drivers:

Marcos Ambrose: Like Gordon, picking Ambrose up on your fantasy roster at a road course is almost a no-brainer. Almost because he hasn’t won at Sonoma before. Although, Ambrose was close in 2010, he hasn’t come that close to a win at the California road course sense. The thing with Ambrose is that he knows the road courses are his best shot to get in the Chase, so you know he’s going to put out his best effort with probably the best car in the Richard Petty Motorsports stable.

AJ Allmendinger: Much like Ambrose, Allmendinger’s best foot will be put forward this weekend. His JTG Daugherty team tested at Sonoma prior to this weekend, knowing that this is their chance to make the Chase. “The Dinger” is still winless in Sprint Cup, but his two Nationwide wins at the road courses last season make him a threat this weekend.

Jamie McMurray: The driver of the No.1 Chevrolet is probably one of the most underrated road course drivers in Sprint Cup. He’s a multi-time pole winner at Sonoma and has proven that he can contend for wins at the California road course. The Chip Ganassi team is improving seemingly by the week. McMurray can’t win everywhere, but this is one of the places he can.

Tony Stewart: Smoke hasn’t won at Sonoma since 2005, but don’t count him out. Stewart-Haas Racing seems to improving with all four cars, and there’s no better place for Stewart to pick up his first win of 2014 than Sonoma. He finished runner-up at Sonoma in 2012 to Clint Bowyer, so it’s obvious he still knows how to get the job done.

“C” Drivers:

Kyle Larson: The rookie is very raw at the road courses, only making three Nationwide Series starts last year at road courses. That said though, he has shown this season that he can adapt very quickly to just about every situation. With Larson having a strong road course racing teammate in McMurray, anything is really possible. He’s either going to make you win, or hold you back.

Danica Patrick: It’s gone kind of unnoticed, but Danica Patrick has been improving as of late. She recorded a seventeenth-place finish this past weekend at Michigan which adds to her string of being more competitive in races. In her time in Nationwide, road courses were one of the places she thrived at. With three strong teammates at Sonoma, expect Patrick to be surprisingly quick this weekend.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will make their annual trip to the Irish Hills of Michigan for Father’s Day weekend with the running of the Quicken Loans 400.

Michigan International Speedway (MIS) has been known for two things as of late: Fast speeds and fuel milage.

Typically, the two wouldn’t be associated with one another. But, the course of the history of the two-mile, d-shaped oval has seen more than its fair share of fuel milage races.

While fuel mileage may be the thing that comes to mind first when thinking of the overall history of MIS, lately it has been dubbed as the “fastest track in NASCAR” and rightfully so. Since the track was repaved prior to the June,2012 race, track records have been set in qualifying in each of the subsequent races. That should remain the same this weekend, as NASCAR’s elimination of minimum ride height on the cars has once again increased speeds.

Even with the fast speeds, you’re still going to want to have good fuel mileage come Sunday afternoon. Despite in increase of cautions since the repave (averaging no-less-than eight), MIS is still prone to late-race, long green-flag runs. In August,2013, Mark Martin gambled on fuel-mileage in the late stages. However, his fuel ran dry with less than five laps to go, and Joey Logano–who also won the pole and holds the track record–went on to claim his first win of the season.

Dating back to June,2010, there have only been two repeat winners at MIS (Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle). The furthest back a winner has started at MIS since June,2010 was ninetieth (Biffle, June,2013).

With all that said, let’s look at some drivers you would want to be sure to have in your lineup come Sunday’s race.

*This roster is set based on the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing system*

A Drivers

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: This is kind of an easy choice. Since the repave, Earnhardt Jr. has been strong at MIS, claiming a win back in June,2012. His numbers before the repave aren’t stellar, but he has been one of the favorites in each race since 2012 in the Irish Hills. And, as we saw last weekend at Pocono, he isn’t too bad at tracks that have been recently repaved.

Kevin Harvick: The driver of the No.4 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing has been absolutely dynamite in 2014. This is exactly the type of track you’re going to want to use up a Harvick start at. He has one win at the track (August,2010), but he’s shown raw speed each and every week which automatically makes him a threat at MIS.

B Drivers

Greg Biffle: This should be the easy pick for this weekend’s race at MIS. Biffle has recorded two wins in the past two years, including one just last season. He has four career wins at the track, and history has shown us that MIS is the “house of Roush”. However, 2014 has been rough for Roush-Fenway Racing. The cars aren’t competitive and they haven’t been much of a threat to win. I’d still keep Biffle on the roster, though.

Brad Keselowski: The Michigan native doesn’t have a win at his home track, but there’s no reason why he can’t this weekend. Keselowski has been strong at seemingly every track this season, and Team Penske as a whole has been arguably the best team over the course of the first fourteen races.

Joey Logano: The winner of the most-recent race at MIS, Logano is looking for his third win of the 2014 season. He started from the pole last August and took home his first win. The 1.5 and two-mile tracks are the strong suite for Logano, which makes him a threat anytime the series visits one of these tracks.

Paul Menard: This may not seem like an obvious choice, but don’t rule out Menard this weekend. He’s a very strong first-half driver, and this style of track is what he performs best on. The Richard Childress Racing cars haven’t been great by any stretch this season, but a top-10 certainly isn’t out of the question.

C Drivers

Austin Dillon: MIS is the track that Dillon has the most Sprint Cup experience at. The Rookie of the Year contender made his first start here in June,2012 and recently filled in for the injured Tony Stewart last August in the No.14 Chevrolet. As stated previously for Menard, RCR hasn’t been great this year, however Dillon has made the most of it. He’s currently in the Chase Grid and a solid top-10 on Sunday should be expected.

Juan Pablo Montoya: Yes, Montoya is back in NASCAR for the weekend. He’s the third-best “C Driver” of the lot for this weekend, but he’s in the best car. That has to mean something at a track where speed is going to be crucial. Montoya’s numbers at MIS are far from stellar, but this No.12 Team Penske car should be a top-20 car no problem.